2005 Ford Focus

2005 Ford Focus

To start off, let me say I am not a fan of Ford (though I quite like the other car manufacturers they own). They make great cars for every country except the US and for me, that’s a worry. Sure there are diehard Ford people who may disagree and say they make good cars for America as well, but I’m sure if you took a Ford lover to Europe and had them drive what’s available over there (Modeo compared to a Taurus just as an example) I’m fairly certain they would shut up. This brings me neatly to the Ford Focus actually. This car won loads of awards from various publications when it came out many years ago and this was thanks to one of the few things Ford has done right (managerially) in the recent decade. The Ford Focus is actually a Euro-Ford product, and it is a testament of how good a Ford CAN be; granted you stick to the European design and engineering department. My natural prejudice towards Ford though kept me from even thinking about recommending this car to friends… but things have changed a little, since I have finally gotten around to driving one.

Negatives:

I always love the negatives part of the car review because you’re allowed to use humor and insults without everything seeming weird… so I shall start this section off with just that. The Focus sucks! Okay the Focus doesn’t suck, just the interior does. I realize I was driving the base model with manual locks and windows, but I’ve driven the base model of a lot of economy cars and I never get that same feeling of cheapness. It’s not just the Focus though; almost every single American car I’ve been in (including Cadillacs) have had the most dreadful plastics for the dash and bits of the car just looked like they’d fall off if you sneezed on them. I’m not sure why American car companies do this. To add to the cheap interior vibe… the gauges on the car looked very low rent as well. They seemed to have come from the Ford parts bin for late 80’s cars. There is some good news though, compared to the previous generation Focus, the interior has definitely improved but it’s still miles off compared to the competition.

Positives:

To kick off the positives, I’ll talk about something everyone cares about no matter how much they claim they don’t… money. I mentioned that the interior of the car feels a bit cheap, but the good thing is that unlike a Cadillac, the little Ford is actually cheap. The car I drove was purchased for about ten grand. That means for $10,000 you get a rather spacious hatchback, a car that’s not embarrassing to drive around in like an old Kia, or simply put, a proper car… that’s a really good deal. Ironically, this is all thanks to the fact that Ford is dying. Ford cars are not selling all that well, so to try and bolster sales ridiculously large cash back offers are usually available, and the car price itself is highly negotiable.

Fortunately you’re not just getting a cheap car that will get you from A to B faster than walking; this car is properly good fun to drive. The steering is very heavy and you receive a lot of feedback about what the car is doing from the wheel. This gives you confidence to chuck the car into corners and makes you long for a nice stretch of twisty road. The car is stiffly sprung making it corner solidly with very little body roll, and yet despite the stiff suspension, the car glides over pot holes and bumps like they weren’t there. The engine isn’t very powerful, but it has just enough oomph in it to let you have fun. Overall, the driving experience can be likened to a go-kart, only more comfortable. To add to the childish fun, the seats on the car are very supportive and catch you if you turn too quickly and that alone helps the car to be more entertaining, because you won’t slow down for a corner just because you’re afraid of sliding out of your seat. After driving a Focus, you will forgive the rubbish interior simply because the driving experience dominates the entire car. This is definitely a driver’s car.

The conclusion coupled with a rant:

So basically, you’re getting a car that looks a bit cheap, but is cheap, and drives like a sports car. Brilliant! I honestly love driving this car and the low price really sweetens the deal, but would I buy one and recommend it to all my friends? No. Two things stop me from doing that. The first bit is the Xbox 360 reliability that the original Focus is known for (If you don’t know what I’m talking about look up news clippings about the 360). Like the Xbox many people have reported flawless reliability with their Focus ownership, but quite a few people have reported a disastrous ownership experience as well. I don’t want to play my luck when buying a car. If I bought a Focus and nothing went wrong I’d be afraid of steering failure later on (actual recall) even though it may never happen. In short, I’m afraid of the Focus’ history and reputation. From recent reports the new Focus has been very reliable, so it may be that Ford really has ironed out all of the flaws for the “second generation” Focus and it’s now more reliable than a Corolla, but I couldn’t tell you for sure.

Right now you might be thinking, “wait it’s a new paragraph and you said there were two things stopping you from getting a Focus and recommending it to your friends!” The second thing is the rant part of this segment and requires its own paragraph. I put quotes around second generation in the previous paragraph and there’s a good reason for it. Since Ford feels that the American market is different from the rest of the world, the second generation Focus in the US is actually the same car as before only with slightly tweaked engines and a face lift. The rest of the world on the other hand gets an all new Focus (which shares the chassis of a Mazda 3), which has been really well received by the world’s automotive press and has a proper interior. Ford’s official statement on why the new Euro-Focus is not sold in the US is quite pathetic. They say that the new Focus will be more expensive making it compete directly with the Civic, the 3, and other “upscale” compact sedans. I thought that was what the Focus was supposed to be competing against! In short, I don’t really want a car that’s been served as leftovers.

Summary:

The Good: If you can appreciate a good drive, you’ll love this car.

The Bad: Interior is a bit lacking compared to the competition, but then again according to Ford it’s supposed to be.

Verdict: I wish I could love it without reservations.

Random Stats:
Engine: 2 liter I4, 136 hp, 133 lb-ft torque
EPA mileage estimate: 26/35